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Hubbard said, however, that the catch isn't as uncommon as one might think.

'It's definitely not unusual. We have some very large sharks off our coast,' he told FOX 13, adding that his Marina has offered shark-fishing trips since 1928.

Belmonte's customers told the captain that they wanted to keep the gigantic find, even though the marina usually doesn't kill the sharks they catch.

Unusual: Dylan Hubbard, owner of the Hubbard's Marina, said the company has hosted shark-fishing trips since it opened in 1928

Big: The shark was approximately ten-and-a-half-feet long and six-feet wide, according to Hubbard. He said that it's not as uncommon as one might think to see large sharks near Egmont Key

Hubbard's Marina released a statement to WTSP explaining why they allowed the customers to keep the fish.

The statement said: 'We have been fishing for five generations and would never purposefully endanger our local ecosystem by killing apex predators in a wasteful manner.

'As far as this latest shark, we did NOT kill it because it was too dangerous...

'It was wild and we tried everything to talk our guest out of keeping it but unfortunately we lost the battle and had to take him home.

'We do all we can to resist our clients from insisting on killing sharks, billfish and other restricted species for sport but if they pay for a private charter the client is always right if it's legal and in season.

'Our company policy on sharks is that the guest must be taking the meat home for consumption if we plan to kill a shark.'

Heavy: It took multiple men to pull the shark from the water onto the sandy beach, where holidaymakers looking watched in awe

Wild: The shark was swimming about a mile off of Egmont Key, Florida, when it was caught by the Hubbard's Marina charter fishing boat

Snapshots: Once the shark was taken to shore, several vacationers posed with it, including this man who sat atop its head

Hubbard's said that once the meat is divided, any remaining unwanted meat is given to an employee who has a local homeless ministry and outreach.

The carcass of the shark is then donated to science 'to be studied to help further the fishery'.

This isn't the first shark to make headlines this week, as attacks have occurred in Florida and North Carolina.

Two teenagers were injured in separate shark attacks on the same stretch of North Carolina beach on Sunday.

The 13-year-old girl's left arm was amputated below the elbow and she suffered a leg injury, as a 16-year-old boy's arm was amputated below the shoulder.

A ten-year-old boy was bitten by a shark in chest-high water on Wednesday, but escaped without suffering serious injury.

When Belmonte and his crew arrived on shore, with their gigantic shark, however, people didn't run in fear, but rather gathered to take pictures.

'I've never seen something that big, that close to shore. So it was pretty good,' Belmonte said.

In season: The shark was brought ashore to be butchered into slabs of meat for the Canadian tourists to take home. Unwanted meat was given to an employee who has a local homeless ministry and outreach

Science: The carcass of the shark is then donated to science 'to be studied to help further the fishery', Hubbard said